Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos has been elected the new Metropolitan of New Jersey, beginning a new chapter in a church career that has taken him from Germany and Mount Athos to Canada and the United States.
The Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate elected him on October 1, 2026. Based on the three-candidate list submitted by the Eparchial Synod of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
The new Metropolitan, born Christos Ziliaskopoulos, has spent decades serving Greek Orthodoxy in Europe and North America.
His career has included parish ministry, theological education, interfaith work and senior administrative roles within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
From Germany to Mount Athos
Athenagoras was born in 1970 in Reutlingen, Germany, and grew up in both Germany and Greece.
During his young adulthood, he spent several formative years living as a monk on Mount Athos. The experience became an important part of his religious formation and later ministry.
He was ordained a deacon in 1997 and a priest in 1998 by Metropolitan Augoustinos of Germany.
In 1999, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew elevated him to the rank of Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne.
Athenagoras then spent more than two decades serving the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Germany.
His responsibilities included parish, pastoral and administrative work. He also represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate in theological dialogues and took part in Christian and interfaith initiatives.
A Ministry That Extended Beyond Parish Life
Some of his work in Germany focused on practical needs within the Orthodox community.
According to his official biography, Athenagoras established the first Orthodox chapel at Frankfurt International Airport and a 24-hour Orthodox crisis hotline.
He also founded the first Greek Orthodox youth camp in Germany and took part in church restoration and construction projects.
In 2017, he moved to Toronto at the invitation of Archbishop Sotirios of Canada.
There, he served as Dean of the Patriarchal Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy and as Office Director of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada.
Two years later, he moved to the United States and began serving the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston.
In 2021, he became Chief Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod and Spiritual Advisor to the National Philoptochos Society.
From Bishop of Nazianzos to Metropolitan of New Jersey
The Ecumenical Patriarchate elected Athenagoras Bishop of Nazianzos on May 19, 2021.
He was ordained to the episcopacy on June 5 of that year at Holy Cross Chapel in Brookline, Massachusetts, with Archbishop Elpidophoros of America presiding.
In the years that followed, he continued to serve in the Archdiocese of America and also served as Archiepiscopal Vicar of the Hellenic Orthodox Community of Astoria.
His academic background includes degrees in German Language and Theology, a Master of Theology and a doctorate in Orthodox Theology from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
He also studied subjects including pedagogy, German literature, Roman Catholic and Protestant theology, Judaism, Islamic studies and comparative religion at Goethe University in Frankfurt.
The election on October 1 now places him at the head of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey.
His enthronement is scheduled for November 7, 2026, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Theologian in Tenafly, New Jersey. He will celebrate his first Divine Liturgy there as Metropolitan the following day.
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